The 79th Academy Award ceremony gets underway later this morning in Hollywood. Our next guest says that to understand this Oscar process, you have to think like a voter, 'which means being cruel, quirky and daft.'

The challenge for the seat of Bennelong by Maxine McKew will be a distraction for the PM, but it's one he also faced during the 2004 campaign. That's when the Not Happy John campaign was in full force.

There are growing tensions between Iran and the west following Teheran's claim that it sent a rocket into space. The launch, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes, comes as its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, continues to defy the threat of more sanctions by comparing his country's nuclear program to a 'train with no brakes'.

Later today lawyers will argue in the Federal Court that the Commonwealth has breached its protective duty by failing to call for a fair trial for David Hicks. Last week, in a letter to the Sunday Age, one of Australia's senior QCs, Robert Richter, was strident in his criticism of the attorney general, Philip Ruddock, describing him a 'liar and a hypocrite' over his handling of the Hicks case.

We hear much about how prosperous we are at the moment, and how strong economic growth and low unemployment mean Australians are better off than ever before. But the latest research on social disadvantage makes you wonder. Some communities around the country remain seriously disadvantaged.

Leonardo DiCaprio is up for an Oscar for best actor for his role in Blood Diamonds, a film that has revived world interest in the trade in illicit gems. In diamond-rich Sierra Leone, these stones fuelled a civil war which lasted for eleven years, until its end in 2002.